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Interdependent Privacy Issues Are Pervasive Among Third-Party Applications

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Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology (DPM 2021, CBT 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 13140))

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Abstract

Third-party applications are popular: they improve and extend the features offered by their respective platforms, whether being mobile OS, browsers or cloud-based tools. Although some privacy concerns regarding these apps have been studied in detail, the phenomenon of interdependent privacy, when a user shares others’ data with an app without their knowledge and consent. Through careful analysis of permission models and multiple platform-specific datasets, we show that interdependent privacy risks are enabled by certain permissions in all platforms studied, and actual apps request these permissions instantiating these risks. We also identify potential risk signals, and discuss solutions which could improve transparency and control for users, developers and platform owners.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/.

  2. 2.

    https://www.androidauthority.com/android-privacy-dashboard-1233846/.

  3. 3.

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/27/facebook-illinois-privacy-lawsuit-settlement.

  4. 4.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-exposed-user-data-feared-repercussions-of-disclosing-to-public-1539017194.

  5. 5.

    https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/items/610173.

  6. 6.

    https://privacyinternational.org/node/2997.

  7. 7.

    https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/permissions#browser_compatibility.

  8. 8.

    e.g. Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/permission-request-messages-firefox-extensions.

  9. 9.

    https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/mv2/permission_warnings/#permissions_with_warnings.

  10. 10.

    https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/mv3/intro/mv3-overview/.

  11. 11.

    https://workspace.google.com/marketplace.

  12. 12.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/iz9kedsbzaw2vn1/liu_dpm2021_data.zip?dl=0.

  13. 13.

    https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/permissions#activetab_permission.

  14. 14.

    https://about.fb.com/news/2018/04/restricting-data-access/.

  15. 15.

    https://privacyinternational.org/node/2997.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Networked Systems and Services, CrySyS Lab, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

    Shuaishuai Liu, Barbara Herendi & Gergely Biczók

Authors
  1. Shuaishuai Liu
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  2. Barbara Herendi
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  3. Gergely Biczók
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Correspondence to Shuaishuai Liu or Gergely Biczók .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau, France

    Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro

  2. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    Jose Luis Muñoz-Tapia

  3. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Guillermo Navarro-Arribas

  4. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    Miguel Soriano

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Liu, S., Herendi, B., Biczók, G. (2022). Interdependent Privacy Issues Are Pervasive Among Third-Party Applications. In: Garcia-Alfaro, J., Muñoz-Tapia, J.L., Navarro-Arribas, G., Soriano, M. (eds) Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology. DPM CBT 2021 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13140. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93944-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93944-1_5

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